Return Value

Remarks

MemberwiseClone cannot be overridden, and is only accessible through this class or a derived class. Use a class that implements the ICloneable interface if a deep or shallow copy of an object needs to be publicly exposed to users.

A shallow copy creates a new instance of the same type as the original object, and then copies the nonstatic fields of the original object. If the field is a value type, a bit-by-bit copy of the field is performed. If the field is a reference type, the reference is copied but the referred object is not; therefore, the reference in the original object and the reference in the clone point to the same object. In contrast, a deep copy of an object duplicates everything directly or indirectly referenced by the fields in the object.

For example, if X is an Object with references to the objects A and B, and the object A also has a reference to an object M, a shallow copy of X is an object Y, which also has references to objects A and B. In contrast, a deep copy of X is an object Y with direct references to objects C and D, and an indirect reference to object N, where C is a copy of A, D is a copy of B, and N is a copy of M.